Editor Pick
Sofitel - Formerly Hotel Amite
- March 27, 2006
- Rated 3 of 5 by
HELEN001 from Damascus, Syria
A bit scary really. This is the weekend playground of the Bamako ex-pats, particularly those with young families. Couples around the pool were all acting out the same scenario. Because he had spent the week cruising round the country having fun in his brand new NGO sponsored 4x4, and she had been bored out of her brains in Bamako with the kids, it was now his turn for some ‘quality time’ parenting. Meanwhile she was going to work on her tan. This ‘quality time’ parenting involves more than just interacting with your kids, it also means ensuring that they do not interact with their mother during this period. This means that at any given time around the pool there will be at least one man deflecting a barrage of footballs, frisbees, and fluffy toys away from his crisping partner. By the poolside is not a good place to relax unless you have children, or enjoy being hit in the side of the head with a Frisbee. A move away from the poolside at least ensures a reduction in fall-out and, in some places, affords a much better view of the concrete brutalism that is the Sofitel.It costs CFA7000 for the use of the pool and a sun-lounger. So if you don’t want (or can’t afford) a swim then you can drink in the poolside cocktail pavilion whilst listening to cover numbers of western, easy-listening, numbers performed by a local band all dressed in formal dinner suits. There was nothing about the whole poolside complex to suggest we were in Mali. No white staff and no black guests. Staff uniforms – bog standard corporate. A European menu, with prices to match. We had been told they did an eat-as-much-as-you-want style buffet on a Sunday afternoon and that it was quite reasonable. I’m sure CFA27000 is reasonable to some folks but when you’ve been eating fantastic meals on the street stalls for CFA120 (about £1.30ish) it seems very unreasonable. Unbelievable in fact, so we opted for the bar menu and I’m still annoyed with myself for paying what I did for a club sandwich.Despite their proscribed repertoire, the band were excellent musicians. It was good to know that in the evenings they play the clubs of Bamako exercising their freedom of choice as regards music and clothing.A visit to the Sofitel is not just about the pool, the food, and the music. If you can afford it, and it’s a bit of luxury you’re after, a sanctuary from the heat and dust outside, a hot air hand drier in the ladies, or merely somewhere for the kids to play and socialise then go for it. The Sofitel on a Sunday is also a lesson. The next time you visit a country and you announce you’d like to live there, remember the Sofitel. It could be you!
From journal Bamako - Never Judge a Book by the Cover